In-line skating has become very popular in recent years. In-line skates use a tandem wheel arrangement which is mounted to a boot that typically encompasses both the foot and lower leg. This type of boot must be buckled onto the foot and leg in a manner which provides a good fit. However, it is also important that in-line skates be capable of being buckled as easily and quickly as possible.
One problem with existing buckling mechanisms is that two cuff flaps must be correctly aligned at or around the front of the leg in order to allow a buckle attached to one cuff flap to properly engage a buckle strap attached to the other cuff flap. This alignment is also necessary where the first cuff flap includes a buckle that is mounted to the buckle strap, and the buckle strap engages the opposite cuff flap via a strap receiver. If the cuff flaps overlap proximate the front of the skater's leg, the overlap must be positioned in a particular manner so that the buckle strap correctly engages the buckle or buckle strap receiver. If incorrectly positioned, the buckle may not properly engage, or the cuff may be uncomfortable to the skater. Therefore, it is important that cuff flaps be positioned correctly as they are overlapped.
In prior art devices, concurrently positioning the cuffs and engaging the buckling mechanism has proved to be difficult. For example, where a buckle lever is attached to a first cuff, the overlapping cuffs must be positioned, and held in place, while the buckle is actuated with the same hand. It is therefore desirable to avoid having to manipulate moving parts, such as a buckle lever, while properly positioning the cuff.